Co-Teaching: An Educational Promise for Children with Disabilities or a Quick Fix to Meet the Mandates of No Child Left Behind?

As educational leaders continue to struggle with the "Highly Qualified Teacher" mandate of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, many are turning to co-teaching models that are designed to incorporate regular education and special education teachers into the same classroom to deliver instruction. This model appears to address the issue of inclusion of students with disabilities into the regular classroom while simultaneously eliminating the NCLB mandate that all teachers must be highly qualified in the subjects in which they instruct. Two issues that could significantly impact students with disabilities in relation Co-teaching's implementation are concerns regarding proper staff development and concerns of it becoming a "quick-fix" for educational leaders struggling to meet NCLB's mandates.